Purpose of Review

To summarize the clinical neuroimaging evidence pertaining to the potential mechanisms of acupuncture for migraine prophylaxis.

Recent Findings

From a descriptive perspective, converging evidence from recent neuroimaging studies, mainly from functional MRI (fMRI) studies, has demonstrated that when compared with sham acupuncture, verum acupuncture could normalize the decrease of the functional connectivity of the rostral ventromedial medulla-trigeminocervical complex (RVM/TCC) network, frontal-parietal network, cingulo-opercular networks, and default mode network and could normalize sensorimotor network connectivity with sensory-, affective-, and cognitive-related brain areas. These areas overlap with those of the pain matrix. Verum acupuncture works in a more targeted and unique manner compared with sham acupuncture in patients with migraine.

Summary

These findings from neuroimaging studies may provide new perspectives on the validation of acupoints specificity and confirm the central modulating effects of acupuncture as a migraine prevention treatment. However, the exact mechanism by which acupuncture works for migraine prophylaxis remains unclear and warrants investigation. Future studies with larger sample sizes are still needed to confirm the current results and to further evaluate the complex and specific effects of acupuncture by analyzing different stimulus conditions, such as verum vs. sham acupuncture, deqi vs. no deqi, different acupuncture points or meridians, and different manipulation methods. Moreover, instead of focusing on the changes in a single area of the brain, researchers should focus more on the relationships among the functional connectivity network of brain areas such as the RVM/TCC, thalamus, anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), superior temporal gyrus (STG), and supplementary motor area (SMA) to explore the underlying mechanism of the effects of acupuncture.

中文翻译：

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来自功能性 MRI 数据的针刺预防偏头痛潜在机制的证据

审查目的

总结与针灸预防偏头痛的潜在机制有关的临床神经影像学证据。

最近的发现

从描述的角度来看，最近的神经影像学研究，主要来自功能性 MRI (fMRI) 研究的证据表明，与假针灸相比，真针灸可以使延髓腹内侧 - 三叉神经颈复合体 (RVM) 功能连接的降低正常化。 /TCC) 网络、额顶叶网络、扣带盖网络和默认模式网络，可以使感觉运动网络与感觉、情感和认知相关的大脑区域的连接正常化。这些区域与疼痛矩阵的区域重叠。与假针灸相比，真针灸在偏头痛患者中的作用更具针对性和独特性。

概括

这些来自神经影像学研究的发现可能为验证穴位特异性提供新的视角，并证实针灸作为偏头痛预防治疗的中枢调节作用。然而，针灸预防偏头痛的确切机制仍不清楚，值得研究。未来仍需要更大样本量的研究来证实目前的结果，并通过分析不同刺激条件，如真针与假针、得气与无得气、不同的穴位或经络，进一步评估针灸的复杂性和特异性作用，以及不同的操作方法。而且，不是专注于大脑单个区域的变化，